The Silliest Land Before Time FanFiction Ever Written
by Lord Kristine
Summary: In order to reconstruct the lost scenes from The Land Before Time, Lily Dearing enters the fictional world under the guidance of a dragon.
1. Chapter 1

There comes a time in every girl's youth when she decides to embark upon a journey of self discovery to find out who she truly is and what her purpose in life may be. Even the most affluent and privileged teens feel the need to seek out meaning despite (or perhaps because of) their lack of experience in the real world. Lily was no exception. The day after she turned twenty, she found herself overwhelmed by a dismal emptiness that was slowly taking over her very consciousness, eating away at the fabric of her soul like some sort of conceptual parasite. She did not know why she felt this way, and could not say for certain if it was the result of her entrance into adulthood or just another spell of teenage angst. Perhaps the sentiment stemmed from the fact that this milestone had already been reached when she had nothing to show for it. She hadn't accomplished much in two decades, and did not feel worthy of the title "adult".

It wasn't like she expected to become a different person after her birthday: she knew better than that. Most people accomplished very little in their lifetime, even after the age of twenty. Despite this knowledge, she was frustrated by the fact that she had not yet discovered who she truly was, nor what she was destined to accomplish (assuming she could be of any use at all). She did not expect to be a prodigy like her mother, nor did she expect to have the next eighty years of her life planned out- also like her mother- but she at least wanted some idea of what her existence was building up to. For as long as she could remember, she had been known as her mother's daughter, and she was proud of this fact even now, but it was starting to feel like that was all she would ever amount to. She was just a footnote on the page of an otherwise excellent lineage.

It was true that her mother in particular was quite extraordinary, accomplishing feats that Lily could only dream of (and would certainly never attempt on her own), but it wasn't necessary (or possible) to outshine her in order to feel validated. Lily would be content with a less impressive destiny, as long as she was able to figure out what she was striving for. If she formed an identity of her own, she would not simply be the child of her mother, but also a person with self-actualization and the like. This was her quest, and now, at the age of twenty, she was ready to begin her journey.

The only trouble was, she didn't know where to start. How does one find their true purpose? Theoretically, they would stumble upon it by accident, but if Lily was still wandering about idly after two decades, she would have to help things along. It was time to make her own luck, and that meant she would have to find a starting point for her spirit quest.

It is said that they key to the future lies in the past, and Lily must have taken these vague and only somewhat accurate words to heart, for she summoned memories of her childhood to see if there was anything that might help her discover the reason she was alive. Somehow, she got to thinking about The Land Before Time. To say that the film had defined her childhood would be an understatement, and that statement wasn't simply influenced by the arrogance born from nostalgia. No, Lily had felt a connection with the movie that was quite tangible and unique. Unlike most children who grew up with The Land Before Time, Lily had the distinct perspective of a dinosaur-child watching a film about dinosaur-children. On top of that, she was not a purebred dinosaur, but an amalgamation of stegosaurus, triceratops, and yes, Homo sapiens. She had much in common with the characters she so admired, as they were not actual dinosaurs themselves, but hybrids born of the imagination. They were not literal hybrids like Lily, of course, but what else would you call prehistoric animals created by the minds of human artists? Dinosaurs, pure and true, had been lost to the ages, and now only existed in their altered forms. Some interpretations were more accurate than others, but none could ever attain perfection. There was no true dinosaur in modern times, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Losing dinosaurs was akin to shedding hair: the replacements may not be the same, but they served their purpose, nonetheless.

Then again, loss of any kind was tragic. Lily's past was speckled with moments she would like to forget, but in general, the feeling of missing out on something that could have remained under different circumstances was not a pleasant sensation. Lily was not immune to the sorrow caused by change and decay, and she feared abstract concepts relating to these ideas more than she cared to admit.

Lily's worries collided with her nostalgia when she became aware of a loss she never knew she had been a part of, one originating in the movie she felt such fondness towards. After a bit of research, she discovered that a good ten minutes of footage had been cut from The Land Before Time prior to its release, and the only remnants of these scenes were scattered through bits of media and trailers. Determined to find the lost footage in its entirety, she searched every corner of the Internet, but was unable to piece together anything significant.

Hope was reignited when she brought up her situation in idle conversation while organizing files in the presence of a dragon. She wasn't keen to spend time with this magical creature, as the dragon bore a fierce grudge against Lily's mother, but when she mentioned her quest, everything changed. The dragon froze in place, then turned towards her slowly.

"You care . . ."

"Care?" she echoed, batting her eyes.

"You care about the lost footage," the dragon elaborated, "You want to find it."

"Yes? . . ."

"How long have you been looking?"

"Hours, but I just started."

The dragon's eyes went wide.

"And you haven't given up yet?"

"I'm running into a lot of dead ends, but if you know how to find the footage, I'd be glad to-"

Suddenly, the dragon wrapped her tail around Lily's waist and dropped her in a chair before hopping over the back of a couch to sit down and start a real discussion. She stared into her eyes, which Lily knew was unusual for this particular dragon.

"Lily, I've been searching for the lost footage for years."

"Have you found it?"

"Not all of it, but a lot. And I've been piecing the film together like a mystery, searching for clues no one else has noticed."

Lily wagged her tail.

"Great! Can I see?"

The dragon's expression changed. Lily wasn't sure what emotion she trying to convey, exactly, and wondered if this was what the dragon felt like most of the time. She decided it would be rude to ask.

"Lily, I can see the narration. I know what you're thinking."

When she winced, the dragon shook her head.

"No, I don't mean it in a bad way. To answer your question, I often can't read people- maybe more than I realize- but it's not set in stone. You can't see the world through my eyes, nor I through yours, so the best we can do is observe the patterns and assume that the most frequent reaction is the norm. It's not always accurate, but mathematically, it makes sense. That's why I was under the impression that no person on your end of the spectrum- that is to say, off it- would care about what I was trying to accomplish."

Lily cocked her head.

"Well, I think a great deal of people devote their time to personal dreams . . ."

"Yes, but this is no ordinary dream, and I don't dedicate myself to it in the same way others might. I'm obsessive, thorough, and so deeply invested in finding the lost footage that you might think me insane, which by all means, I am."

The dragon fixed her eyes on a random area of the floor.

"I didn't want to ask anyone for help, because I was certain they'd laugh at me. There are others who have dedicated their time to this pursuit, but I assumed they were people like me. Us ND's, we can't do this alone. We need NT's like you to see what we can't see, just as we see the areas you implicitly ignore. We're like rods and cones: our functions are similar, but what we pick up is vastly different."

Lily nodded.

"I think I see what you mean. Does this mean you'll help me?"

"It's more the other way around, if you're up to it. I must warn you: it will be dangerous."

Lily blinked.

"Dangerous?"

The dragon pulled a book out of thin air. When she opened it, Lily realized it wasn't a book at all, but a doorway to another world hidden under a fairly banal cover. The dragon held up the rectangular window, revealing a universe Lily recognized.

"That's The Land Before Time . . ." she whispered in awe.

"The universe of the film. Before I gathered fictional characters in a multicanon metropolis, I preserved a collection of works that had been censored or otherwise edited in a secret library. Of these works, this particular film became the one I cared about the most. I carried the book with me, obsessed with restoring the original version, but as time went on, I realized that I was alone in my endeavors, not because I was the only one trying, but because my dream was some fringe pipe dream, and the world as a whole could care less about whether I succeeded or failed."

Lily twisted her lips.

"How could you possibly fail? Weren't you omnipotent at one point?"

The dragon folded her ears and frowned.

"Lily, if I fixed every movie before it was tampered with, there would be no existing works that deviated from the artist's vision. It's not moral to guarantee a world without obstacles. I'd rather fix a mistake than prevent it entirely."

Lily frowned with puzzlement.

"That almost makes sense, but I'm not sure it's one hundred percent logical."

"Hardly anything is. I'm aware that it sounds like a cheap dismissal of your concerns, but think of it this way: in seeking out what we've lost, we are being blessed with an opportunity. This is an adventure, Lily, as well as a burden. It is now up to us to find these lost scenes and restore what was denied to pop culture. Along the way, we'll discover our own purpose. This is what you were hoping for: a chance to prove yourself. The pain of loss is but a conflict we must resolve, and when we do, the filmic canon will be just a little better for it."

Lily nodded.

"That sounds horribly convoluted, but I'm interested. How do we start?"

The dragon set down her book, then made it grow. The doorway was now large enough for Lily to fit through.

"You want me to go inside?"

"Yes. Only one may venture through, and if you fail, there are no second chances. I'd have done it myself, but I don't trust in my ability to pull this off. Instead, I will guide you through the story as it happens, and when you have ensured that everything occurs as it should have in the deleted scenes, the uncut film will become the true canon."

Lily nodded.

"So what's the danger?"

"If you interfere with the story in any way, the pure, uncut world contained in this book will be altered. Should this occur, my failsafe mechanism will destroy the book. We'll forever lose the cut scenes . . . Oh, and you'll be destroyed with them."

Lily blinked.

"Okay, so you want me to go into this world, see what happens, and avoid changing anything since doing so would kill me?"

"And destroy the canon in the process. But yes."

"This seems really complicated. Are you sure you can't just use your dragon powers to bring back the uncut film?"

"What satisfaction is there in winning a game of chess if you simply slap your opponent's pieces off the board?"

"So I'm risking my life for your ego?"

"No, for the sake of fairness. A world without challenges is robbed of the sweetest human feature: the ability to care."

"Neither of us is fully human . . ."

"I mean it in the philosophical sense. My point being: this is the moment you face a new struggle, and with a little luck, you'll evolve as a person. The greater the pain, the greater the victory."

Lily nodded.

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Should we ask your mother first?"

Lily winced. The dragon shrugged noncommittally.

"I don't particularly care for her, but I figured I should ask because this feels like the kind of thing that could get us both in trouble."

Lily stared at the doorway that connected the two worlds. The dragon was right. What would Lily's mother think of this expedition into unfamiliar territory? The last time she'd run away, she had narrowly avoided disaster, and at great cost. But this time, she wasn't endangering anyone other than herself. There was no way of stopping her once she crossed the border. For once, she was completely and utterly independent. Regardless of the danger that lay ahead, this was what she wanted. Her mother had been protecting her ever since she was born, perhaps shielding her more than was necessary, and while Lily understood that her actions were carried out because of love, sometimes she needed to be shown that she underestimated the resilience of her daughter. All Lily needed was a chance, and she wouldn't get that chance if she warned her mother. She didn't feel comfortable deceiving the people she loved, but if the ends justified the means . . . Well, it was still pretty dishonest. Could she really lie to the woman who had shown her so much love through the years? Did she have an obligation to follow her heart or listen to the sensible side of her reasoning that told her this was a bad idea? What was the best possible solution?

"We'll tell her once it's done."

And just like that, she ventured into the world of her childhood.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily paddled through prehistoric waters, unsure of whether the experience was made surreal by the fact that she could breathe underwater or simply because she was in a familiar yet previously unreachable world. She heard the dragon's voice in her head as she moved deeper into the murky scenery.

'You're doing great, Lily. The movie is starting soon. Be invisible so you don't draw attention to yourself.'

Lily batted her eyes.

"Invisible?"

'You can camouflage. Jesus Christ, how many of your superpowers do you not know about?'

Lily frowned as she changed the color of her skin.

"I know about the camouflage, but this whole underwater thing is new. How did YOU find out?"

'Your mother can do it too, but let's not discuss that right now. Stay focused, and don't interfere. Tell me what you see.'

"Water."

'Very funny. Keep moving until you're in the opening titles. You should be able to see text somewhere. It may be hidden behind the animation they later reused in All Dogs Go To Heaven.'

"What?"

'They copied the bubbles. I bring this up because reused animation is one of the clues I told you about earlier. You'll see a lot of it in this movie, mostly in the larger dinosaurs. But I'll get to that later. For now, make sure you don't screw this up by being seen. If you do, try to at least screw up in a way that allows some deleted scenes to make it to the real world- by which I mean your fictional world. This is fiction within fiction, don't forget . . .'

"I see the titles."

'Swim towards them.'

Lily twisted her spine like a mermaid, or perhaps like a manatee, since she was rather pudgy. She wove through a bale of turtles, trying not to touch them in the process.

'Those turtles will come into play later. Kind of. You'll see. This is a good time to test the waters, so to speak, since we won't be reaching the intense stuff for a few minutes. That's where the meat of the lost footage used to be.'

Lily crawled onto a beach, then explored the surrounding area. After a few minutes of wandering, she came across a baby Cera, who rammed her head into her parents' snouts. Lily was reminded of her own rambunctious childhood, when she would impulsively charge random objects in her path, only to bang her head without making a dent in the target. She recalled her mother licking her cheek when she began to cry, which made her feel a little better. She would then point to the object that had collided with her skull (the other way around, actually), and her mother would give an understanding nod. Lily was satisfied knowing that her mother understood the guilt of the object in question in an almost cosmic sense. It was unfair that it had been created too dense for Lily's cranium.

For a brief moment, Lily wondered if this whole mission was just another solid object she was attempting to take on without considering the consequences, but she shook the thought in order to focus on her potential (hopefully likely) victory.

She soon came across Littlefoot, freshly hatched. He gurgled and looked up at his mother with loving eyes. Lily cocked her head and sat down with a worried mien.

"He's so happy . . . He doesn't know . . ."

'And you can't tell him. Don't blow this, Lily.'

She stared at the baby longneck for a little while longer, then signed.

"Alright. I think I'm ready for a challenge."

'Good girl. The narrative moves forward in time after this scene, so I'll allow you to jump ahead. Whatever you do, don't interfere.'

Lily watched as Littlefoot nestled into his mother's scales. She took a deep breath and turned away.

"I won't."


	3. Chapter 3

Lily did not face her first challenge until Littlefoot wandered away from his mother. She followed him and Cera to a pond, where she anxiously awaited the danger she knew was on its way. Even now, Lily feared the dreaded Sharptooth that had once haunted her nightmares. Normally, she would remind herself that the monster was a fictional creature, incapable of harming her in person. But now she was inside the story, and the threat was very real. Perhaps it was the herbivore instincts in her, but she felt antsy around predators, even when she knew they meant her no harm. Sharptooth may prove to be an actual predator if she revealed herself, but she did know a great deal of carnivores who considered her a friend, or at least didn't think of her as food. Speaking of which . . .

"Has Liam mentioned me?"

'Maybe,' the dragon muttered, 'I barely keep track of my close relatives, let alone great grandchildren. I'm sure he thinks about you every now and then.'

"Probably not fondly."

'Oh, I don't know. I think he's not all that mature. Obviously, what happened between his mother and yours is problematic, but- continuity error: Littlefoot is twice Cera's size- but I think he really cares about you.'

Lily looked down. A bubble popped in the muck between her feet.

"If he loved me, he wouldn't have . . . you know."

'Dumped you? Nah. They say most couples break up at least once. You may still have a shot.'

"But if he really cared about me, he wouldn't have-"

'Shhh!'

No sooner had the dragon silenced Lily than a shadow descended upon the swamp. She felt the hair on her arms prickle as her heart plummeted. Sharptooth was coming.

'Get closer to the action.'

"B-but he's about to-"

'I know, but you have to settle something. One of the novelizations shows that a scene of Sharptooth attacking the dead tree was cut. That, and a few published storyboards explain why his eye seems injured before he's hit with the thorns. For some reason, they moved the part where he sniffs the thorns to a different place. You can hear this in the sound mixing as well. Go investigate what's happening.'

Lily stood in place, knees knocking.

"I can't . . ."

'WHAT?!'

"I'm scared . . ."

'Oh. My. God. Lily, you said you could do this . . .'

"I know, but I-"

'GO!'

Lily charged forward, only to get caught in a tangle of thistles. She heard a gasp that was not her own. Littlefoot was struggling to escape a clump of vines nearby.

'They edited out some of the screams and replaced them with surprised gasps. I think one of them is from Jurassic Park, which should interest you. Anyway, back on topic. What do you see?'

"Thorns!"

'Go to where Sharptooth is. He should be jumping on Littlefoot soon. The background changes, but I think that's just because the camera is going to pan up a little. They do this a few times in places that weren't-'

Lily broke free, wailing as thorns tore into her skin. She fell to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Sharptooth marching straight for her.

'The soundtrack changes here, which indicates something was cut around the time when-'

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Lily screamed and rolled to the side just before a scaly foot came down hard where she had been lying. She scrambled away and hid behind a rock, covering her head. She could hear the dragon going on about rumors of cut footage showing Littlefoot's mother being torn apart that were replaced by shadows, and how that was probably fake because of something, something, something, but all Lily could focus on was the intense pounding of her heart that warmed her ears with blood.

'-of the two hatchlings getting caught up in a fight between the adult dinosaurs in the mud, as shown by a Pizza Hut commercial . . . Lily?'

She made a squeaking sound.

'Lily, what do you see?'

She felt tears pouring down her cheeks.

"No! . . . No! . . ."

A pause.

'So when did Littlefoot's mother get those wounds on her neck: before the mud scene or after?'


	4. Chapter 4

It was cold. Rain streaked down Lily's sides, but she did not feel the wetness or the pinpricks of water hitting her back. Her frozen toes felt both icy and numb, though it shouldn't be mathematically possible. Of course, words generally don't operate based on math, nor feelings.

She dragged herself over a cliff that had been freshly birthed in the great earthshake, and noticed the shape of a dying longneck on the horizon. She kept her distance.

'Lily, I can't believe you've done this . . .'

She kept her eyes fixed forward.

"I'm sorry. I thought I could do this, but I . . . I guess I can't."

'So I've wasted my one chance to retrieve the lost footage?'

"I think so."

She heard a scoff.

'I thought I could depend on you, but you're a coward, just like your mother. She let her doubt take hold of her, as you have done just now. Pathetic. You put your feelings before the needs of others.'

"I'm sorry."

'Yeah? Well, I am too. I'm sorry I trusted some weak, emotional nobody to carry out my divine task. I hope you're proud of yourself. When you step out of this story, your mother will see you for the failure you are.'

Lily stood up slowly and limped away.

"I'm sorry . . ."

After that, Lily didn't know what to do with herself. She just sort of wandered around without a goal or purpose. She figured the best she could do was to let the story play out and return to her world when the time came. She had lost track of Littlefoot anyway, and although she knew where he was headed, it didn't matter anymore.

She was so upset that she walked straight into a rock . . . only it wasn't a rock.

"Who's there?"

The beast turned around and sniffed the air. Lily stepped back with surprise.

"Rooter?"

"Who's asking?"

"You can see me?"

He snorted.

"Of course I can see you, you . . . three-horned spiketail . . ."

Lily sighed.

"I'm visible again. I really can't do anything right."

The old animal sat down.

"Lost someone?"

"What?"

"Little longneck came by not too long ago. Lost his mother."

Lily batted her eyes.

"Oh . . . Oh, no. My mother is fine."

Rooter smiled.

"You're very lucky."

Lily thought about it.

"Yeah . . . I guess I am."

He chuckled softly.

"Well, I hope you two stay together for a good long time. I'm sure she loves you very much."

"She does . . . And she's proud of me, but I don't feel like she has a reason."

"No?"

Lily turned her eyes to the bright circle.

"No. But I'll give her one."


	5. Chapter 5

Lily caught up to the gang of five just as the last member joined their group. Spike tailed the herd, lured by a clump of berries.

'You missed the deleted scene where Ducky convinces Cera to let him come along.'

Lily jumped.

"You're back! . . . Wait, why would they cut a scene like that? It doesn't sound scary . . ."

'It featured dialogue where Cera calls spiketails lazy. God forbid we teach our children not to be racist.'

Lily followed behind the gang, changing color once more.

"I'm noticing things I never saw as a child."

'Oh, yeah?'

"Yeah. Cera is walking farther from the group than the others."

'She reminds me of you.'

"Am I that distant?"

'No. I meant physically. Plus, you make the same sounds.'

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Okay, dragon lady. What are we looking for next?"

'Possibly a deleted scene featuring an oasis. This is the most mysterious missing clip, since it only appeared in a storybook, and no footage of the scene has made it into the public sphere.'

"So how do you know it exists?"

'Some things you see with your eyes, and others, you see with your heart . . . Also, it features two adult species of dinosaur seen elsewhere in the film, so they probably would have reused the animation. That being said, the footage of the bigmouth chewing seaweed- already used twice- might not fit, since the bigmouths are only allowed to drink in this scene, if I'm remembering correctly. The domeheads were the ones eating, and neither side would let the other take advantage of what they had. So they starved and died of thirst. It's another racism thing, see. I wonder if that's why they call them bigmouths and domeheads.'

". . . What?"

'Let's not explore that thought. Go check it out.'

Lily peeked at the gang from behind a boulder.

"Nothing yet."

'Ah. Maybe it comes later. But I could have sworn I heard a sound mixing error when Littlefoot says his last line. Plus, the trees get more sparse in the next shot.'

Lily quirked a brow.

"You've really thought this through . . ."

'You have no idea.'


	6. Chapter 6

Lily got close enough to the young dinosaurs that she was able to get a clear look at what was happening. According to the dragon, there was a huge gap in the soundtrack and at least two clips that surface online relating to the tree scene, but as Lily watched the children eating a pile of green food, she caught no glimpse of the cut footage.

'Hey, speaking of green, did you see that the space in front of Littlefoot was green when Spike pushed him up? Is that an animation mistake or a clue?'

"I think you're seeing things. You're noticing patterns where there aren't any."

'That's a little subjective, don't you think?'

"Maybe, but you have to admit, you notice things others tend not to."

'That's a lie. I'll have none of- Continuity error: Spike is twice as large as Cera.'

The dinosaurs were falling asleep now. Lily cocked her head.

"Tomorrow, things will go wrong for them in a heartbeat."

'Glad that's not us.'

"Yeah . . ."

Lily shifted uncomfortably.

"I haven't found any of the missing scenes yet."

'Yeah, that's odd. But if you retrieve at least one, the uncut version will be canon, and one of the characters can tell us about the rest, thus materializing the scenes through narration.'

Lily frowned.

"Why did I have to find all of them, then?"

'You didn't, but your success rate isn't great so far, so finding even one might be a challenge.'

Lily twisted her mouth.

"I wonder why that is? . . ."

'Ah, forget about it for now. Get some rest. Those scenes aren't going to find themselves, so you'd better be up bright and early.'

Lily curled up beneath a dead tree, sighing deeply.

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

The dragon was already gone.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day went better for Lily. She awoke to the sound of screaming, of course, but that was a good thing, because it made her aware of what was happening, like an alarm clock that pumped her body full of fear and adrenaline. She followed Sharptooth and the children to a stone barrier, then charged through a gap in the mountain. She stood with the gang as they gazed at the rock shaped like a longneck, and waded through ash later on in the day.

'I think there was something about the ash that I was supposed to remember. Maybe the oasis scene is coming.'

"I don't think so."

'Ah. Well, should I warn you about what's coming, at least?'

"Sure."

The dragon cleared her throat.

'So Littlefoot originally found the valley before killing Sharptooth, then went back to tell his friends. That's why he's smiling when he's running through the tunnel as he follows his mother's spirit cloud; that was taken from the end of the movie, when he already knew where the valley was. After breaking off from the group, Littlefoot would have sought the advice of said cloud. The scene was moved to later in the movie. That's why you can see the rock he uses against Sharptooth still sitting on the cliff. And those turtles I mentioned earlier? Around the time the younger turtles show up, Littlefoot would have told the others minus Cera about the Valley. Then there's a few scenes of Ducky in peril found only in the trailer, and originally, the group would have turned back after Petrie's revival. But since Littlefoot was supposed to be sad in the moved cloud scene, they had to cut that too. Also, Sharptooth's sinking scene was longer.'

"Ah."

'I'm very proud of what I learned about this segment. I actually found one of the lost scenes myself. One of the storybooks shows a still from the second revelation of the Great Valley that doesn't appear in the movie. You can tell which scenes are from the first arrival and second arrival because the first one has no pink tinge, and Littlefoot would have been on a waterfall in that scene. The waterfall appears on the opposite side of the Valley in the still I found, so the whole gang must have entered the Valley from the other side the second time. Plus you can see the hill they stand on at the end.'

Lily perked up.

"That's it! I need to go to the waterfall passage. That way, I'll find at least one scene for sure."

'Lily, that's brilliant!'

She beamed. It was quite possibly the kindest thing the dragon had ever said to her. She turned to the burning mountains with a determined frown.

"The way will be hard, but I know I can do it."

And for once, she was one hundred percent right. Lily made it to the Great Valley's waterfall entrance. She stepped into the bubbling stream and stared up at the bright, blue sky with sparkling eyes.

"I found it! I finally found it!"

'Finally?' the dragon echoed.

Lily grinned.

"The Great Valley is a land of plenty. Everyone gets along. People love each other. It's heaven on Earth."

'There was a rumor that it was meant to be a metaphor for heaven. That was disproven.'

Lily wagged her tail enthusiastically.

"So where's Littlefoot?"

'I'm sure he'll come.'

"Okay . . ."

She waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

She waited for almost an hour.

Littlefoot did not come.

Lily looked around, suddenly worried. It dawned on her that there was something strange in the fact that she had not yet seen any of the deleted scenes. Why had she not encountered a single one until now? She had followed the gang almost the whole way to the Valley, after all. She must have just missed the footage, somehow.

Unless . . .

"This isn't the uncut version."

'What?'

"The uncut version . . . it doesn't exist. It's gone. It's not canon."

'WHAT?'

"The movie we got is the only movie we'll ever see."

'HANG ON-'

"And that means Littlefoot isn't coming. His friends are in trouble. He doesn't know . . ."

'No. Don't you dare, Lily. Don't you dare.'

"I have to tell him. I know you said not to intervene, but I have to save the movie."

'By killing it? By killing YOURSELF?'

"I made the choice to come here. This is on me."

'But the lost scenes, Lily . . . You've come so far. Don't throw it away.'

Lily turned to the cave.

"I have to do what's right for once."

The dragon watched the rippling pages of her book, clawing at her eyes with frustration.

'LILY, YOUR MOTHER IS GOING TO KILL ME!'

No reply.

'LILY!'

She whimpered.

'We're in for a lot of shit . . .'


	8. Chapter 8

Littlefoot was sitting at the crest of a rocky hill with his feet folded in front of him. Lily didn't quite know how to approach him. She was nervous about meeting a figure from her childhood, but more importantly, she was afraid of what would happen after the fact. If she intervened, that would prevent the lost scenes from ever resurfacing, but it wouldn't necessarily destroy the movie. The only problem was that she would die anyway. She paused, then without really knowing why, she revealed herself as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Littlefoot lifted his head, and she walked towards him.

"Hello."

It just slipped off her tongue.

"Who are you?"

She couldn't think of a rational explanation for her presence, so she answered honestly.

"I'm Lily."

"I'm Littlefoot."

"I know."

She took a deep breath.

"Promise you won't mention me to anyone, not even your friends."

"They aren't my friends anymore . . ."

"They are. Trust me, they are. You'll be together again, and when you are, you'll go on many adventures . . . none as good as this one, in my opinion, but still . . ."

"How do you know?"

Tears brimmed in Lily's eyes.

"I can feel it in my heart. Listen, your friends are in danger. You have to find them."

He stood up quickly.

"Where are they?"

"In the mountains that burn. Hurry."

Without missing a beat, he scampered away. She thought that was the end of it, but he turned around briefly and called out to her.

"Thank you, Lily!"

She smiled.

"No problem."

He scrambled down the ridge and disappeared. Lily kept her eyes fixed on the horizon, then sat down. She was feeling tired, and something told her it wasn't just the climbing that had done her in. When she looked down, she noticed that her lower half was fading away.

'Well, you've done it.'

Lily nodded.

"I have."

'You're going to die, you know.'

"I know."

'Aren't you upset?'

"A little. But I'm happy I didn't take the Land Before Time with me. I'm suffering for my own mistakes."

'Yeah, but you're dying for nothing. We never found the lost footage.'

"Maybe not, but I don't think that's important anymore. The movie we grew up with may have been flawed, but we enjoyed it all the same. We never questioned what was missing from the story, because we loved it as it was. The version we got was what inspired us, for better or for worse. I'm glad I was able to experience it."

'Lily . . .'

"Tell Mama I'm sorry. I should have listened to her. Say goodbye to my friends and family . . . and tell Liam that I love him, even if he doesn't love me back."

'He loves you, Lily . . .'

"I wish I could have said goodbye in person, but I suppose I'm lucky I got to say goodbye at all. I was afraid I would explode or something . . ."

She was fading at the neck now. Her legs were barely visible.

"I thought the Great Valley was a perfect place. I thought I could get there if I tried hard enough. Well, I did, but my greatest adventure was what came before. Life isn't a perfect world filled with grass and leaves and people you get along with. Life is arguing with the friends you care about. Life is losing the things that are important to you. Life is getting dozens of sequels that never quite reach the quality of the original."

'On that, we can agree.'

"Life is the good, but it's also the bad. It's messy and confusing and full of moments you'd like to forget, but every once in a while, you're happy. Twenty years is not a long time to be alive, but I'm so grateful that I was lucky enough to meet the people I know now. I'm going to miss them, and I'm sure they'll miss me too, but the pain was worth it. I have so much to be grateful for. And I am. I really, really am."

Lily thought back to the moments of happiness in her life. She recalled the first time she'd opened her eyes, placing her tiny feet on the beak of her mother, who said she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She remembered how her father had cradled her, and how he never seemed to learn that he should keep his nose away from her teeth. She thought about how her mother licked her cheek when she cried, and how she comforted her in return when it was needed. She recalled her stuffed cow and the beetle she used to play with. She remembered meeting Liam, and how his smile frightened her away. She marvelled at the fact that they had later played in the same schoolyard and slept in the same train on a lonely adventure, thinking about the families they had left behind.

Her last thought was of her mother, who had crossed the globe just to find her, and who without hesitation wrapped her in a tight hug as they reunited. She didn't care that her daughter was a hybrid dinosaur, nor that she was less heroic than she'd like to admit. She loved Lily, and Lily loved her back.

There was more, so much more, that Lily could have recollected, but somehow, that one moment was enough. She faded into nothingness with these memories warming her heart, and she knew that even with her departure, she and her mother would be together, always.

Lily vanished as four dinosaurs climbed over the rift, and another shortly after.

***TSLBTFEW***

Back in her study, the dragon watched as light escaped the pages of her story, leaving golden text behind. She sighed and closed the book for good, then set it on her shelf, solemnly acknowledging that it would never be touched again.

As she glided out of the window, traveling in the direction of Lily's closest relatives, something landed on her face, blocking her view. She sputtered and tore it from her snout, then pulled her head back in surprise. She was holding a leaf with five points. Slowing to a stop, she gradually decreased her altitude until she touched down near a lake. She kicked over a sign that warned tourists of venomous snakes, then set the leaf on the rippling water, where it drifted away slowly. On its journey, white petals began to blossom from the center. They grew larger and larger, then unfolded one by one. Lying in the middle of the flower was Lily. She stood up and spread a pair of white wings, then batted her eyes.

"I'm back . . ."

The dragon's eye twitched, and after taking a deep breath, she let out the longest and loudest stream of curses that had ever been uttered, then followed it with:

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"I was!" Lily protested, "But I'm back now. I guess this makes me just like Mom."

The dragon frowned.

"Brat. Don't ever do that again."

"I won't."

Lily bounded forward and hugged her. The dragon rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright. I'm glad you're safe. I'm pretty sure your mother would have killed me if you died permanently."

Lily shrugged.

"Well, I guess I have more important things to do. I plan to stick around for a little while longer, at least."

The dragon rubbed her chin.

"Point taken. Say, if you're free, there's this thing I want to do with All Dogs Go To Heaven-"

"No."

She smiled sheepishly.

"Fair enough."

 **The End**


End file.
